Williams residents: Don't let pipeline ruin scenery

THE MORNING CALL

PennEast Pipeline Co., a consortium that includes a UGI Corp. subsidiary, plans to build an underground pipeline that would carry natural gas from Wilkes-Barre in Luzerne County south, cutting through Northampton County about halfway between Easton and Bethlehem, ending near Trenton, N.J. \\\\NEWS - CONTRIBUTED PHOTO - PENNEAST PIPELINE//////

PennEast Pipeline Co., a consortium that includes a UGI Corp. subsidiary, plans to build an underground pipeline that would carry natural gas from Wilkes-Barre in Luzerne County south, cutting through Northampton County about halfway between Easton and Bethlehem, ending near Trenton, N.J. \\\\NEWS - CONTRIBUTED PHOTO - PENNEAST PIPELINE////// (THE MORNING CALL)

At a meeting more than 100 people attended, Williams Township residents said they don't want to see their hillsides and farmland changed to accommodate a 100-mile natural gas pipeline.

Wednesday's supervisors meeting was standing-room only as PennEast Pipeline representatives answered questions about their proposed $1 billion, 105-mile natural gas pipeline. The pipeline would stretch from Wilkes-Barre to Mercer County, N.J., and is designed to carry low-priced natural gas harvested from Pennsylvania's Marcellus Shale reserves to markets in New Jersey and beyond.

Planned to be 36 inches in diameter, it would cut through the middle of Northampton County. Residents whose property would be affected have received letters from PennEast, but Wednesday was the first time the company, a consortium that includes UGI Energy Services, answered questions at a public meeting.

While 100 people attended the meeting — some standing in the hall outside the meeting room — only a handful of residents spoke because supervisors allowed just an hour of discussion on the pipeline.

The planned route takes the pipeline through Moore Township, passing just north of Bath, through Upper and Lower Nazareth townships, into Bethlehem Township just west of Louise Moore Park and past St. Luke's Hospital's Anderson Campus, then west of Route 33, through Lower Saucon and Williams townships.

Environmentalists are concerned the pipeline will damage wildlife.

"What we will have are woodlands stripped of trees," said Linda Heindel, whose 128 acres could be affected by the pipeline.

Walanne Steele, a township resident, said the pipeline would disfigure the scenic hillsides and rolling farmlands in the community.

"There must be areas that are unattractive that you can choose from," she said.

Some residents also had safety concerns about the pipeline.

In nearby New Jersey, residents have swarmed meetings in strong opposition to the pipeline. Some of those opponents attended Wednesday's meeting in Williams.

The Williams Township meeting might have been the last one PennEast officials attend.

After facing hundreds of opponents at meetings in New Jersey last week, the company has decided not to accept any additional invitations to speak at public meetings. In some cases, officials previously said, the meetings have been counterproductive.

But Wednesday, Alisa Harris, PennEast's government and community affairs liaison, said the company will answer any questions that residents have.

Harris said PennEast wants to have a minimal impact on the environment and endangered species. She stressed that much of the work is preliminary.

The company hopes to start construction on the pipeline by 2017.

Williams Township supervisors did not take a stance on the pipeline Wednesday.